How To Verify Your Car's Mileage Before It Leaves Japan & Preferably Before You Purchase It -

How To Verify Your Car's Mileage Before It Leaves Japan & Preferably Before You Purchase It

ODOMETER Fraud Does Happen

With regards to JEVIC, they only have the same information as the auction houses regarding the mileage of cars:

The "national database" is the 走行メーター管理システム that the auction houses use together to determine if there are any mileage errors. Therefore when buying a car at auction we are provided with all the information available. It is possible that an odometer could have been rolled back if say the mileage on the registration two years ago was 150,000km and today it is 170,000km where in actuality the guy drove 50,000km this year and rolled it back 30,000km. There would be no way of finding this out as it is not public knowledge.

The good roll that JEVIC can play is verifying the mileage on cars between the auction house and the port. Many shady bait and switch type dealers will roll back the mileage on "stock" cars for sure.

*Source Scott Bower, Japan Car Direct.

JEVIC stands for Japan Export Vehicle Inspection

They are a fairly respected Japanese Organization who can inspect cars prior to Export to verify the condition and also the car's condition.

Many countries actually require JEVIC certification for any car which enters their country to avoid cars that have tampered mileage aka rolled back odometers.

JEVIC can provide two kinds of inspection services:

Checking the national database for anomalies

Checking the database and physically inspecting the car to find evidence of odometer tampering

The cost for Option 1. is just 3500 Yen
The cost for Option 2. is just 6000 Yen

You should ask your Importer or Exporter if it's possible to have JEVIC check the car and you should always watch for obvious signs of odometer tampering such as insanely low mileage like 15000KM where the steering wheel is worn and seats are worn etc..

If your importer or exporter completely refuses any kind of JEVIC inspection we would be wary of them.

Further, beware of companies such as IBC Japan who offer their own "Odometer Inspection Services"
We received proof that IBC's so called OIS certificates are issued by their own staff even though they try and make it look as if it's a third party company.

The link to JEVIC's services is below and you can simply contact them by e-mail and they'll arrange payment and the inspection of your vehicle.

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